When They Were Young
by Cullens4everandever
Summary: Ever wonder what Seth and Leah were like when they were little? Before all teh freaky unnatural stuff? Just a cute one shot with a baby Seth and a little Leah. And some spilled paint.


**A/N- I was thinking- I've never tried a story about any of the wolves. I've grown on Jacob and Leah and I always loved Seth, even more so after Breaking Dawn, so I figured I'd devote some time to what they were like before the supernatural flipped their lives upside down. Just a cute little one shot between a little Leah and her baby brother.**

**I think Leah is about six and Seth is around 1.**

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Leah tiptoed down the hall and stopped in front of the only door that wasn't firmly closed, but ajar instead. She swiveled her head, looking for parents or authority figures, or anyone else that might tattle on her. Mom and dad were both sleeping, just like they thought Seth was doing. She was supposed to be in her room playing quietly to let her parents get some rest, but she didn't feel like it today. She wanted to play with Seth.

Smirking when she saw no one she silently pushed the door open and padded across the carpet, glad the new plush fibers under her feet absorbed the sound of her steps so mommy and daddy couldn't hear her through the baby monitor.

She surveyed the room. It looked different than she remembered it. Much different. When this had been her room, the walls had been a light pink and the floors a nice glossy wood. Her bed had sat in that corner so she could see the sun in the morning. Her desk had been on the opposite corner and her fluffy blue beanbag chair had been in the other corner. Her parents had moved her to the room across the hall.

Now, the walls had a fresh coat of soft green paint on them, the cans of coloring still against the walls, and a crib was under the window. She glanced at the changing table, at the monitor resting on top of it, and quieted her steps even more. She reached the crib and peeked in between the bars.

Seth was sitting up inside and was watching her with interest, chewing on a teething ring and watching his big sister absorbedly. She pressed a finger of her lips, warning Seth to not make noise as if he could understand the gesture.

She straightened up from her crouch and scanned the room once again. She spotted the cans again and dragged two closer. Seth stood in the crib, grabbing the bars for support as she stacked one on top of the other.

Carefully she stepped onto the teetering cans and unlatched the front of the crib, easing the slatted side gently down, watching out for the area where it occasionally creaked. She reached over the top of the lowered side and seized her brother around the middle, pulling him up and over the bars.

She wobbled on top of the can and hurriedly jumped off, Seth in her arms, her arms securely wrapped around his chest. She turned as soon as she hit the floor with a small thump, watching with horror as the tower of paint trembled and fell, the top can bursting on impact with the floor and spraying the green paint across the new carpet and her purple socks and the bottoms of her jeans.

She stared at the disaster a moment before turning and running out of the room, away from the scene of the crime, with Seth still clutched in her arms. She hurried to the kitchen, pausing halfway there; to rest her tired arms, before setting off again at a nervous pace. She got to the hard wood floor of the eating area at last and almost fell over as she slid on a puddle leftover from where Seth had dumped his juice a little while ago.

Finally, they reached the back door and she pushed it open, breathing in the fresh afternoon sea air, and set off across the yard. Seth really was heavy though so she eventually put him down at the edge of the yard, facing the sea and plopped down next to him.

"You know, I haven't forgiven you for taking my room." She stated to her little brother. He babbled happily, gumming on the ring in his hands still, not at all worried about the fact his sister had kidnapped him. She sighed. "Yeah, you're right, I guess it's not your fault." She said sadly.

"But I don't like my new room quite as much. It doesn't have the little dent in the back of the closet where I hit it too hard with the hanger, and it doesn't have where I carved my name into the floorboard, or where I colored on the wall and mommy couldn't get it all the way off." She sighed again. "And plus, now it's green." She said distastefully, wrinkling her nose. Seth made a gurgling sound and grabbed at Leah's ponytail. She blocked his hand though reflexively and continued.

"I guess my- er, your room doesn't have some of that stuff anymore anyway. The dent's still there, but they painted over the crayon and they put carpet on the floor." She said thoughtfully. "Maybe my new room is better. It's a little bigger. And now I can see the sun go down. I'm even big enough that I actually can watch the sunset! You're just a baby so you're already asleep by then." She said smugly. "Plus I still have my bed and toys and stuff."

"Maybe my new room is better." She conceded after a moments pause. "Maybe when you get bigger you'll wish you had my room!" Leah said, sounding pleased. "And when you're bigger I can teach you how to pick the lock on the cookie jar and how to pretend you brushed your teeth and fun stuff like that!" Leah said, proud of the things she'd gotten away with. "And I can also teach you all sorts of other things too!"

She smiled to herself, imagining all the useful things she'd be demonstrating to her brother in the coming years.

"Then, when you're a teenager I can tell you how to act around girls." She said, marveling at impossibly how far away that seemed now. "You know, I really don't like boys. They're gross. Mom says I'll get over it though and I'll be boy crazy some day. Weird huh?" she asked her brother, not waiting for an answer. "She said I'm going to find some guy that really likes me and we'll get married, just like her and daddy." Leah said confidently. "But that's like forever away." She leaned back, putting her weight on her arms, palm down in the grass. Seth had stopped listening a while ago and was focusing on a bird that was hopping across a nearby branch.

Leah watched as another family ambled across the beach. wo girls, Rebecca and Rachel, skipped ahead of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Black walked along behind them, Jacob held on Mrs. Black's hip. The family looked a lot like Leah's except that she only had a brother and no sister. She wished she had a sister. But she'd make do with Seth for now. Leah opened her mouth to continue but heard her name being called from inside. She froze and turned slowly, finding her mother in the doorway looking livid.

Darn. Mommy found the paint. And Seth.

**A/N- ha! Such a devious little thing! I enjoyed writing this, because before all the vampires and werewolves and everything supernatural came along, they were just normal families (excluding the Cullens). I'll finish up the next Cruise chapter soon because I think I'm done with my one shot rampage.**

**--Cullens4everandever**


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